Ebola has killed 27 people in DR Congo

“The next few weeks will really tell if this
outbreak is going to expand to urban
areas or if we are going to be able to
keep it under control,” said Salama.
The agency issued a new toll, saying
there had been 58 cases since the
outbreak was declared on May 8 — an
increase of seven over figures issued on
Tuesday — and said it was actively
following more than 600 contacts.
One of the world’s most notorious
diseases, Ebola is a virus-caused
haemorrhagic fever that spreads through
contact with bodily fluids and can lead to
fatal bleeding from internal organs, the
mouth, eyes or ears.
The outbreak began in rural northwestern
DRC in a remote location called Bikoro.
Last Thursday, the first case was
reported in Mbandaka — a city of around
1.2 million people that lies on the Congo
River, acting as a transport hub to
Brazzaville and Kinshasa downstream
and to Bangui, upstream.
‘Can spread quickly’
So far, seven cases have surfaced in
Mbandaka districts, WHO said.
“An urban case means that it can spread
quickly. That is another challenge,” WHO
chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told
Wednesday’s session during the
agency’s annual World Health Assembly.
The proximity of the outbreak to
neighbouring countries, especially
through the river connection, was a major
concern, he said.
“They are connected, they are very close,
and that is another challenge that makes
the problem really serious,” he said.
Salama said that another concerning
factor was that five healthcare workers
were among those infected.
“That is a tragedy in its own right, but it
also signals the potential for further
amplification,” he said.
At the same time, though, the top WHO
officials and DRC’s ambassador to the
UN in Geneva Zenon Mukongo Ngay,
who spoke at the event, stressed the
massive efforts put in place to halt the
outbreak.
Salama said in just the two weeks since
the outbreak was declared, clinical care
facilities have been set up, an air bridge
has been established to Bikoro,
emergency financing has been mobilised,
protective gear and emergency medical
kits have been supplied.
In addition, a vaccination campaign has
begun and more than 120 WHO staff
alone have been deployed alongside
numerous staff from other organisations
under the leadership of the DRC
government.
“It is hard to recall a situation of an
outbreak where a government has
responded more quickly and more
decisively than in this outbreak,” he said.
‘Highly targeted’ vaccination
A campaign using an experimental
vaccine got underway this week, starting
with first responders, before moving to
any people known to have been in
contact with suspected cases, and then
on to the contacts of the contacts.
“This is not mass immunisation, this is
highly targeted ring vaccination,” Salama
said, pointing out that the aim was to
form “protective rings around (each) case
to protect the people themselves, but
also to prevent further community
transmission.”
He told AFP that some 10,000 people
should be vaccinated within the next
month.
Matshidiso Moeti, WHO’s regional
director for Africa, meanwhile said WHO
response teams have been sent to most
of the nine surrounding countries to
ensure they are sufficiently prepared in
case the virus spreads beyond DRC.
“We are working very hard with the
countries in the surrounding area to
ensure that their readiness and their
preparedness could be up to the task of
a case arising in these countries,” she said.
“We are hopeful that we will be able to
contain this epidemic,” she said